Vismig

Ropey digiscoped shots of Little Ringed Plover late evening at HGF

Common Sandpiper, HGF

Wheatear, Rixton Moss

Linnets, Rixton Moss

Black-necked Grebe, HGF

BNG in threat display - falling out with another pair

Redstart, Heysham Nature Reserve (still having problems getting my digiscoping camera to focus properly)

Reed Buntings and a Tree Sparrow in the garden

Dozy young rabbit, Crook O'Lune

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Saturday morning and the usual HGF morning visit. There were five Black-necked Grebes present this morning and the remaining five Wigeon but little else of note. The BNG's had split into 2 pairs which didn't seem to get on and threat displays were observed when the birds got too close. In the garden were 4 Reed Buntings, 3 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Bullfinches. Also had a quick mooch around Newton Lake this morning. No hoped for Common Sandpiper, however 5 Teal were still present along with two Mute Swans and 10 Tufted Ducks. A Willow Warbler sang from the bushes on the far bank, a Sparrowhawk joined a Buzzard spiralling up on thermals over the pool and a Jay screamed as it flew over.

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After a day of jobs we managed to get up to the van late evening. When we arrived the usual flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present in the field behind the van. Sunday morning I didn't have too much time to play with so I headed off to Langden Valley to have a look at the Redpolls. Along the way I spotted five Roe Deer grazing in a field outside Caton. When I arrived at Langden there was just one other birder present and we stood on the far bank and scanned the larches for the little blighters. From the buzz-buzz-buzz sounds there were plenty of birds around, however they were pretty elusive to start with. Eventually birds started to visit the trees by the beck to feed and we managed to start scanning through them.

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I managed to get onto only one nailed on Common Redpoll during the morning - a pale greyish bird with white tramlines down its back and a white (streaked) rump. The wing bars also appeared to be broader and whiter than the Lesser Redpolls. I got good views of this bird for approx five minutes and didn't see it again. I also saw two other interesting birds. One had extensive and very white patches on the upper plumage (contrasting strikingly with brown plumage) and white unmarked underparts. Both Common and Lesser Redpolls can show these characteristics so god knows what it was. The other bird was very similar but more pale cream instead of white markings. All told I would guess at least 25 Lesser Redpolls were present - it was an interesting experience seeing the great variation in this species. The only other bird of note that morning was a Dipper flying down the beck.

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Early evening on Sunday I managed to escape for an hour or so and headed off to Heysham. The Hoopoe that had been found earlier in the day was long gone (apparently flushed by a car alarm), however three male Redstarts provided some entertainment, hawking for insects around the nature reserve. When I got back to the van the flock of LBBG's was in the field - there were 179 and a couple of Herring Gulls.

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This morning HGF was interesting for a change. Five Common Sandpipers were lined up along the south shoreline with a Little Ringed Plover. Can't remember seeing so many here before. On the water it was dead - no Wigeon (looks like no summering drake this year), no Tufted Ducks and only one Black-necked Grebe. The surface of the water was, however, buzzing with hirundines - at least 35 Swallows and 85+ Sand Martins. A Sparrowhawk flew over the pool while in the ploughed field by Midhops were 2 male Greenland race Wheatears. I returned late evening for another visit and found three Little Ringed Plovers together and the Common Sandpipers still present. This was a surprise - I had thought the endless stream of dog walkers would have flushed them. Perhaps more surprising was that four Black-necked Grebes were now present. I have noted that these birds do move around during the day time - more evidence of this today. The Wheatears had moved from Midhops to the lawn in the south field, however there has been no further sign of a Yellow Wagtail since last week.

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I had a mooch around Rixton mosses today too. In the first ploughed field on the left were 13 Wheatears together with 6 White Wagtails and a male Yellow Wagtail. 18 Linnets and a pair of Grey Partridges and a few Stock Doves completed the line up - a very busy field! Trawling round the various ploughed fields I found a further 9 Wheatears, a second male Yellow Wagtail (in a ploughed section behind a caravan nr the top of Holly Bush Lane), 6 more Grey Partridges, 4 Buzzards and a flock of 17 Skylarks feeding together. The usual big flock of Crows was also hanging around. In the garden today were 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Tree Sparrows and a male Bullfinch. Spring migration is definitely underway!!!